It was a long speech, but for the purposes of cable news, Barack Obama’s speech came down to these lines:

“Did I ever hear him make remarks that could be considered controversial while I sat in church? Yes. Did I strongly disagree with many of his political views? Absolutely — just as I’m sure many of you have heard remarks from your pastors, priests or rabbis with which you strongly disagreed.”

It’s that admission, which Obama had been holding out on until today’s speech, that saves Obama from the seemingly inevitable “gotcha” moment when a reporter finds out that Obama was present for one of Wright’s most incendiary sermons. God-o-Meter’s instincts tell it that coming clean in the speech will largely put the matter to rest, but stay tuned.

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